Atheism and Video Games

I think that gaming when I was younger help shaped my idea as an Atheist.

I grew up in a small southern town full of Christian Fundamentalist belief. Just to let everyone know how religious everyone was around my neighbored, the Harry Potter series was banned from my school library because the librarian considered it devil worship books. On top of that, my high school had no prom because the Southern Baptist don't believe in dancing!

But by some miracle, somehow, my brother got a Playstation for X-mas with Final Fantasy 7. It really had a deep impact on him. He said "he had never played any game like it before. It was a RPG, and the only thing we ever played was Mortal Kombat and Super Mario World at friend houses". He insisted that I start playing it. So I did, and I think to this day, it is one of my favorite games.

The story was awesome, it made me question what makes someone evil? How do they become who they are? How do people cope with death? What will happen to the earth long after all humans are gone?

After reading some science books and playing Final Fantasy 9, I decided that not only that my religion was obsolete, but all religions are.

If there is an all powerful, all good god, then how is there evil in the world.

Comments (4)

Are you serious?

Are you serious? Well, first and foremost, let me say that I totally respect your opinion but the way you present it weak at best. I actually do not wish to get into arguments on theology, beliefs, and religion. I have to say that I DO believe there is a God and I DO believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world. Jesus was an evolution to the Word and the commandments of the Old Testament (John 13:34).

I must also say that I do not believe that everything in the bible is true or presented correctly. In this sense, many people would not consider me to be a "true" Christian. I respect their opinions as well.

Religion is one of the problems with the world in addition to two more bigger problems; we're human beings, and we think that our individual opinions are law. It's because of these problems that the world is the way it is. Since the days of the Old Testament until now, there has always been war (mental, physical, verbal, and emotional). No matter how "strong" we think we are, we as humans will gravitate toward what seems more easier to accept. It's not an issue of weakness on either side, it's just choice; free will.

I believe in a relationship with God, not religion. People think that following God is a deep process and it is but if you look at it as a whole, it is more fundamental than we think.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change...

Hey 4lefty, thanks for the comment

I am kinda of serious, I think video games to have the power do help us ponder our faith or ask questions about what we belief in.

I do not think that the Atheist argument is weak, but rather strong. You quote the bible in your opening paragraph, but then you say that you don't even belief in everything the bible says.

So what are you using as a filter? What is your ultimate authority? Science (which says that man evolved and were not created, and says that once someone dies, they stay dead), or is humanism (which would make slavery wrong, or going into a village and committing complete genocide wrong). Or is it something else?

There has been war man as far as recorded history goes, but do you think that a big sky daddy, who has always been there, would really let his children kill each other. For what purpose? Let's just face the facts, accept the science, and say that the probability of god is slim at best.

Sorry about that last paragraph man. Do you have any video games that have strengthened or taught you anything about your faith? I hear that Halo has a lot of Christian symbolism in it.

Here's just a gist.

I quoted a scripture because that is one of the driving messages in the New Testament that people tend to overlook. I argue with plenty of "Christians" who spend a lot of time pointing fingers at people doing wrong that they forget that very important commandment. I have children and I can tell you from experience that it hurts me when my older son makes a bad choice. It hurts me when my younger one is sad about someone mistreating him. In the end, I will have to let them learn their own lessons. No matter how many examples and warnings I give them, they end up making their own choices and they will always have to deal with the after effects of that choice, good or bad. You see the corelation?

I have a different view of biblical scripture but the fact that I have a different view or opinion causes people to attack instead of listening. For example, I don't believe that God sent people to kill other people because they chose not to believe in Him. I don't believe that God sent people to offer animals as a sacrifice as if that was the only purpose of the animal. I believe that people (humans) came to that conclusion and wrote it as such. I believe that some of the scripture is misunderstood so when they wrote it, they wrote their analogy or perception it. I believe that there was a lot of scripture removed from todays bible (before the KJV).

I refuse to get into arguments with people because we'll just be arguing of mindsets and opinions. I believe that the most amazing, brilliant, and beautiful thing God ever created in the world was the human brain. It's what we do with that powerful instrument that matters the most. Everything we do has an effect and affect. God doesn't touch anything else. He created life and every system under it. He just allows us to live. No supernatural crap. I've spoken to countless atheists who argue about the beginning. To me that doesn't matter but they'll spend the whole time arguing about how it all started. Does it matter now? What matters is how you live your life. Are you making a difference in the world around you? You see, there are four kinds of people in this world; adders, subtractors, multipliers, and dividers. Which one of these are we? That is our choice and will we be happy with that choice because each one has a domino effect.

Religion's main problem is the church and the fact that they're run by human beings. We will always make mistakes and we will always be susceptible to the pains and trials of life. A life with God requires greater self control and self analysis. In the end, it all comes down to choice. I believe that is why we have so many religions and divisions (Catholic, Judaism, Christian, pentatcostal, baptist,e.t.c.) because of differing opinions, mindsets and views. It's not God's fault why the church fails sometimes, it's our fault BUT we can fix things and make them better if we chose to.

God speaks to us in our language. He used parables so people could understand through co-relation and analogies. Perhaps God was showing you how you have more power in your choices and actions than what some church or groups' personal opinions might say. He spoke to you in your language through a medium that you enjoyed; not through some mystical thundering voice in the clouds. Just to you personally in your subconscious.

I have had many messages from games. Some of them were purposeful by the creators and some of them were through my relationship with God via analogies and the subconscious. Most notable are games like Left 4 Dead and the movie "The Matrix." I find many messages but they're through co-relation with my whole life in general, not just about religion.

I believe religion and God should be seperate. The church is something God wanted but we keep messing it up. Most 'evil" in the world exists because we (human beings) created it.

Religion Aside

I profoundly believe that video games as a medium have an untapped potential for trascendental cultural communication. If a fantasy game had the power to make you think about yourself and ultimately get to know yourself better, imagine what interactive narrative games can achieve in the future?

Of course I don't believe games should be a means of evangelisation, at all (please no) but they do have the power of expression unlike any other medum out there.